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You never know how important your voice or action is. Only in hindsight may you have a clue. But standing strong for what is dear, steadfast in the winter of our soul, can bring us closer to the aspirations of our founders. Thank you Heather Cox Richardson for telling the stories of our history that give us understanding and hope.

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Here is another voice today, Janet Yellen, published in Rupert Murdoch's own Wall Street Journal.

Title: Bidenomics is working for the Middle Class.

Gift link below.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidenomics-is-working-for-the-middle-class-b4e132a8?st=zzgdid7k75hd05r&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Even a Rupert Murdoch owned entity is admitting the truth. I am still recovering from the shock.

Maybe Prof. Richardson has penetrated the darkest of minds? Rupert Murdoch's.

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Thanks Mike. I cut and pasted the column as it is behind a paywall for many of us.

The American economy has improved significantly over the past year, especially for the middle class. In December 2022, I shared my optimism in these pages about our country’s economic trajectory: We had gotten our economy back on its feet after weathering significant shocks and were poised for growth. It’s now clear that optimism was justified. While some forecasters predicted a 100% chance of recession this year, that didn’t happen. During the first three quarters of 2023, annualized growth averaged around 3%. Americans are applying to start businesses at a record pace, consumers are buying more, and inflation has come down substantially.

Historically, it’s rare to bring down inflation while maintaining a healthy labor market, but that’s what’s happened in the past year. The unemployment rate is near historic lows—at less than 4% for 22 months, the longest stretch in more than 50 years. Real wages have risen from their pre-pandemic levels—especially quickly for middle-income households. The typical middle-class American household has higher earnings, more wealth and more purchasing power than before the pandemic. Because wages have risen more than prices since 2019, a worker earning the median wage can today buy the same basket of goods and services as in 2019, with nearly $1,000 left over to save or spend.

Our economic position reflects actions the Biden administration has taken over the past three years. When President Biden took office, we were in the middle of a pandemic for which our country and our world was unprepared. Thousands of people were dying every week and many more were losing their livelihoods. The administration acted quickly, including through the American Rescue Plan—getting shots in arms and providing direct financial support to households and fiscal relief to local, state, tribal and territorial governments. We also helped ease supply-chain bottlenecks that had contributed to a surge in goods inflation. With healed supply chains and Americans rejoining the labor force, the American economy is producing more goods and services. This expanded supply enabled us to maintain stronger growth than many predicted, while inflation cooled.

This isn’t to say that recovery has been without its challenges. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up global energy prices. In response, we took actions to hold energy prices down, releasing 180 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and working with a coalition of partners to put in place a novel price cap on Russian oil. Russia has seen a significant fall in oil profits, even as global energy markets remained well-supplied and energy prices declined for American families, with average gasoline prices down $1.90 a gallon from their high in June 2022.

This year, amid stresses in the banking sector, we acted to protect depositors and mitigate risks to the financial system. As a result, the U.S. avoided a panic that could have derailed our economic recovery. We’re continuing to promote financial stability, which serves as a foundation for economic growth. We’re also monitoring potential economic spill-overs from Russia’s war in Ukraine and, more recently, from the conflict in the Middle East.

We recognize that middle-class Americans continue to face costly food and rent, which matters enormously to their budgets and daily lives. President Biden and I are focused on lowering prices where we can. The Biden administration has already capped insulin costs for Americans on Medicare at $35 a month and is lowering the price of prescription drugs for seniors and the cost of health insurance for millions of working families. Our clean-energy incentives are making it cheaper for Americans to upgrade their residential energy systems and will keep energy costs lower over time.

President Biden is also taking action to support the middle class through investments that will enhance the economy’s ability to produce and create good jobs. I call this strategy modern supply-side economics. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Chips and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act are creating incentives for private-sector investment, with companies announcing more than $600 billion of investment in clean energy and manufacturing since the start of the administration. Recent Treasury analysis shows that funding from the bipartisan infrastructure law is going where it’s most needed—to states with the lowest-rated public infrastructure and lower median household incomes—not just to the coasts and wealthy communities. Since Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, 70% of investments in clean energy have been in counties where the employment rate is below average, and 86% have been in counties where college-graduation rates are below average. The law has created well-paying jobs for people and places that have historically been left behind.

As we look to the new year, despite challenges and risks, there’s good reason to be optimistic about the path we’re on: rising real wages, declining inflation, and a strong labor market. Our investments and other economic policies will continue to expand the country’s productive capacity and pay dividends for middle-class Americans.

Ms. Yellen is Treasury secretary.

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I wish that every American could read or listen to Yellen's speech. Can you imagine what the 2024 elections would look like if our citizenry is truly informed of actual economic facts?

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For too many, it would be seen as lies because that is what their Dear Leader has accustomed them to.

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I for one have read or heard over and over again the basic points Janet Y. makes in her piece. I also know that we will hear all of this so many times as the campaign heats that we will know it by heart or get sick of it, or both. I also read people who seem to hope we never see TFG as president again whine that the administration doesn't trumpet its successes nearly often enough. Dems need to donate, organize, and vote as if our lives depended on it. Duh!

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Yes. Pay attention to Dem candidates in the 'must win' states and donate whatever you can to their campaigns. And don't forget to support the Progressive Turnout Project. We need everyone to get out and vote.

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Gary,

Then, I toggled over to the NY Times and found this article.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/26/opinion/trump-biden-election.html?unlocked_article_code=1.I00.FBl2.r6xnnWZzGA4A&smid=url-share

With the quote:

"And unlike 2020, there’s no guarantee most voters will see President Biden as the safer bet between the two men to bring order back to America — in no small part because Mr. Biden was elected to do so and hasn’t delivered."

I posted a comment that this was a lie and put the Janet Yellen link into the comment.

But, looks like NY Times is now firmly in the make stuff up camp.

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Mike S, It seems REALLY important to notice exactly WHO is authoring the articles, especially in a publication like the NYTimes:

"By Kristen Soltis Anderson - Ms. Anderson is a Republican pollster and a moderator of the Times Opinion focus group series."

I'm not quite sure how they concluded that this is among "all the news that's fit to print."

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“Both sides”, doncha know...

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Mike I have also noticed that NY Times is printing more and more crap like that.

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I do the puzzle every day and some other items like the playlist they have and the science section. The op eds are something I do not read.

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As noted in JohnM's post below, people should pay attention to who is doing the writing. The NY Times is firmly in the camp of click bait and Biden criticism as is most of the msm. It is tiresome and it is up to readers to try to outline the flaws and point others to articles like the one covering Janet Yellen.

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That was an opinion piece by a Republican pollster.

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Maureen Down gave her column over to her objectionable RW brother a few weeks ago.

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The NYT opinion you reference is pure republican rhetoric!

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Mike S -- I unsubscribed to the NYT a couple of weeks ago for that reason -- mainly because they do not support President Biden in any way at all, significant or otherwise. I am sorry that my un-subscription has affected access to the Science section too, which is very regrettable.

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Maybe your library has a subscription

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Yes, it does. Thanks for this good reminder, Linda.

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Thanks for posting the Yellen piece. I think anyone who has a subscription to date should do the same thing in the response section to their article by the Republican. That would be yelling, Janet Yellen’s (pun intended) outstanding and accurate piece out to so many more people. I do not have a subscription so I cannot, but am saving it for when I will be doing more phone banking in 2024.

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I don't know what happened at the Times to turn so negative.

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Thanks. I found myself sucked in to subscribing for $2/month. It will be an opportunity to read the views of the Oligarchs and Bigots. Of course, I must now mark my calendar to cancel in a year when it rockets to $38.99.

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FYI. You can read the WSJ online free via some libraries. I read via the Boston Public Library (need a card, available to all MA residents) by signing in and creating 3 day subscriptions whenever there's something I want to read. Here's a link to BPL. https://www.bpl.org/blogs/post/digital-newspaper-and-magazine-resources-at-the-bpl Other libraries (though not all) offer similar service.

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Oh, and btw, instead of giving $ directly to WSJ, I make a donation to the library to pay for services they provide free to everyone. Libraries are more important than ever!

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WSJ is good to read if you are still figuring when to buy bonds and the like.

:-)

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WSJ is free on Apple News (which isn't free)

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Bill Alstrom -- Although I have unsubscribed from the "paper", I'm considering getting into the 50-cents per week offer, until that runs out, just to access things like the Science section. In somewhat of a quandary.

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I think you’ll notice

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Really appreciate the copied text Gary. It's all spot on except why on earth would she call it "modern supply side economics?" Why use the name of a failed policy and just add modern?

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They can’t admit “supply side” was wrong.

Yellen is excellent but still has to deal with morons like Larry Summers, who infamously said “women are not capable of higher math”. I take every opportunity to point out that 2 of the 3 directors of the new fusion research centers are women. Physicists.

Larry Summers couldn’t see a banking crisis slapping him in the face. Nor could Art Laffer, who dumpty hung a prize around.

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That graph is all we need to know about what needs to change in this country and the world. Why is there such widespread admiration of billionaires? On the whole, they cost the rest of us far too much. https://www.monbiot.com/2023/12/13/billionaires-are-bad-for-us/

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I’m not sure the people we need to reach can read a graph. After all they like actors and think they should be president. Thanks though!

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The Laughter Curve

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Economics has a fundamental two-sided structure: supply and demand. The Republicans politicized a basic economic term, supply side economics, by making it a euphemism for what is accurately called trickle-down economics, the mendacious idea that shoveling money into the hands of the already super-wealthy will result in their directing this new wealth into building new productive capacity (ref. Reagan tax cut, George W. Bush tax cut, Trump tax cut, with minimal sops to the non-wealthy to make them politically palatable). I call it "mendacious" because it was never designed to work as advertised. It is a cover for payoff for bribery (via campaign contributions--"implicit quid pro quo" that the Supreme Court abomination of 2010, Citizens United, destroying a century of anti-corruption legislation, declared to be non-criminal.) We can't throw away basic language because of a previous contaminating misuse.

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And the dumpster one made the 1% cuts permanent - but the ones to the "non-wealthy" temporary - so of course THAT is what is catching the eyes of the public! My, could that have been intentional - maybe?

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Exactly!

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Yet Laffer still has a career.

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Thank you for giving us the ability to read this piece.

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Many thanks for making this available to us.

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THANK YOU for printing this!!!

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This is optimistic and wonderful news to read about Miss Yallen's report. This should be televise for the American people to hear. It's up to the Biden administration to enforce it.

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How kind of you to post the entire article. Thank you.

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Copy and share. I sent it to my area newspapers.

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That’s all true. However, here in NE Pennsylvania, our food pantries are being stretched to the max, as demand has increased. I know that my food expenses have about doubled since 2020. I laugh when I read about 6% and 8% inflation in grocery prices. I’m long retired, so I feel the pain just as young families do.

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The comments to her opinion piece, also published, are trollish invective directed to Ms. Yellen and the Biden administration by the usual denizens of an ultra pro-business, anti-democratic readership. I applaud her for the guts to stick it right in the middle of their opinion page. Touché!

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Who knows how many of the comments are employees of Putin paid to troll anything positive about Biden in Putin's ongoing effort to get his pet boy tRUMP elected again. I would guess a fair number of comments are just Putin employees.

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Oh, let's hope that isn't the case. This site is such a haven when compared to other social media sites where tactics using bots are so commonplace.

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Yellen speaks and writes well. That was a strong endorsement of what the administration has accomplished. Too often we forget where we have come from, what our travails were not so long ago.

Covid is ramping up again, the flu is upon us and RSV is savaging the population. And nobody wears a mask in crowded places. Is anybody else sick of being sick?

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Bill,

There is a vaccine for the RSV, the flu and a new one for Covid. My wife gets all of them, I am a little more circumspect and spread them way out.

But, the CDC does recommend old folks (like me at 62), do get the shots.

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Yup. We are all boosted. Still got Covid - not nearly as bad as the first 3 times. And some other unidentified "cold" which is all over our region.

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I have them all but the RSV, which costs nearly $400. I have remained healthy at 71.

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Jan, is RSV not covered by Medicare?

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It is fully covered if you have part D.

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Nope.

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Yes, Bill, I certainly am.

How to become like a resistant pincushion:-) C’est moi now post Bronchitis in November, which no one speaks about: felt like people w thin sticks were beating my chest. Just another virus on the lam.

Am also sick of all the dark news.

But HCR is a glowing light I turn on first in the now darkish morning. And a reminder today how an effective creative action, courage, determination and effort transformed our nation.

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A few months ago I was talking to a high school class mate of mine. She worked for the WSJ when they were purchased by Rupert. She was so turned off by Murdoch's presence that she had to leave the building whenever he came for a visit. Everything the Murdoch's touch turns to shite. She found a great job at another major paper. It makes one wonder how difficult it must be for Fox News, WSJ and the other far-right entities Murdoch owns to hire qualified people.

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It also makes me skeptical of the character and integrity of William Lewis who will become the new publisher of the Washington Post on January 2. He worked for Murdoch for more than 10 years as CEOof Dow Jones and publisher of WSJ.

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So, are you saying democracy is dead on January 2? Asking for a friend...

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The comments under the oped all negate Yellen's message, in the worst possible way, essentially saying she's lying. An oped on the pages of the WSJ doesn't seem to change the minds of many readers.

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Yeah - I read some too - maybe it will change some minds - just the ones who do not comment!

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Thank you for the WSJ link Mike S.

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Great editorial, but…have you read the reader comments? Sorted by most liked, it’s amazing to me how the WSJ, which used to be a serious economic source, has really gone into decline. Their readers seem unable/unwilling to believe objective economic data.

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Also available on Apple News if you have that

Opinion | Bidenomics Is Working for the Middle Class

The economy defied the gloomy forecasts for 2023. Growth is steady, inflation is down, and wages are up.

https://apple.news/AcYIa_vBUROKbyNklI7ANWQ

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Thank you for the link!

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I’m still worried, when I see our local food pantries being overwhelmed by demand. It’s headline news around here!

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I think it’s more a case wherein capitalism & capitalists are self-correcting to save themselves and their economy from the consequences of allowing the disqualified 45th former president back on the ballot, risking a do-over.

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The New York Times published a similar article. Maybe the good news is finally breaking through!

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Amen

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